Basic research in plant molecular biology can reduce India's dependence on chemical pesticides. Examine with recent examples.

Pests cause avoidable losses of about 10–30% of India's crop output [3]. Farmers have mostly answered this with chemical sprays. Plant molecular biology studies how plants sense and resist attack. That knowledge offers crop protection that works through the plant's own defences, but only if lab findings hold up in the field.

How basic research can cut pesticide need

• Decoding plant alarm systems: NIPGR, New Delhi, has identified CNGC13, a calcium channel found mainly in the xylem and phloem. It relays an insect-attack alarm to undamaged leaves within minutes, working alongside the known glutamate receptor-like channels (GLRs) [1].
• Defence-priming chemicals: Leaves that receive the alarm raise their glucosinolate levels. The researchers say the finding may help design chemicals that help plants fend off pests [1]. Such targeted triggers could replace broad-spectrum insecticides.
• Engineered resistance: Bt cotton, introduced in 2002, cut bollworm infestation and the need for insecticide sprays [4]. It shows that gene-level knowledge can become fewer sprays on the farm.
• Fit with IPM: Under the Centre's Integrated Pest Management strategy, chemical pesticide use fell from 75,033 tonnes in 1990-91 to 50,583 tonnes in 2011-12 [2]. Tools that boost the plant's own defences support IPM's rule of using chemicals only as a last resort.

Limits and caveats

• Lab-to-field gap: Studies of plant signalling mostly use model plants. It is not yet proven that the findings carry over to rice, wheat or mustard.
• Growth–defence trade-off: Defence driven by jasmonic acid takes energy away from growth. If defence stays switched on, yield can fall.
• Pest evolution: Pink bollworm's resistance to Bt cotton shows that a solution based on one mechanism wears off without careful management.
• Translation: Any product needs field trials and registration under the Insecticides Act, 1968. Public institutes also have weak links with industry.

Way forward

• DBT and NIPGR should test CNGC13 in mustard (Brassica), which naturally makes glucosinolates.
• ICAR should run field trials that measure yield, not only insect damage.
• New products should be delivered through IPM's spray-only-above-the-economic-threshold approach [2].

Basic research explains how plant immunity works, which pesticide-heavy farming has largely ignored. With field testing, delivery through IPM and careful resistance management, discoveries like CNGC13 can steadily reduce chemical use. That would advance SDG 2 and SDG 12 and India's goal of safe, sustainable agriculture.